Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Last year, a gardener at school lost his family home in a fire. He is a faithful worker to the school and has been serving it for as long as I can remember.  Because the school compound contains a primary and secondary school, he often works long hours and is always the last one to leave the school. When I first entered class 1, I remember always seeing him doing carpentry, mowing the lawns and fixing many broken things and he is still doing so now.

The gardener was at school working when he heard that his humble small home had caught fire. He raced back, however, by the time he reached back, the house had already burnt to the ground.  His wife and sons were all standing outside with the little they could save from the fire.  It was his worst nightmare.

Most people thought that he would stay with his family and find measures to rebuild his house.  But, that was not what the gardener did.  Surprisingly, he came back to school the very next day and started his usual routine activities. There was not a single expression on his face to show that he had lost everything he owned.

However, news of the gardener's family home came on the news and in no time everyone had learnt about it. Both of the schools fundraised for him.  Parents, teachers as well as students and friends of the school all gave money to help.

The gardener was very emotional when he received the donations from both of the schools.  We, the students, also felt the wonderness of helping others.  The feeling cannot be described in words.  One has to experience it to feel the way I did on that day.